401. “And the image of the animals, their look was like embers of fire burning, like the appearance of the torches, she walks among the animals, and there was a glow to the fire, and a lightning came out from the fire.” An image is one form from the animals, in which all of them clothe, the form of the left in them, which clothed in fire. Ezekiel did not see the image itself, but the form of the appearance of those who serve it, the embers of fire
The form of all the animals, the three lines, clothed in the form of the left in them, the face of an ox, to reveal the Hochma in the left line. That image clothed in embers of fire, the judgments that appear together with the revelation of Hochma. But Ezekiel saw only the embers of fire.
402. These embers of fire are called “their appearance,” the appearance of the animals, which are looked at in order to see in the mirror. Like a mirror in which all the colors are seen, so the Seraphim, embers of fire, are as a mirror to see in them the looks of the animals, since everything is clothed in one another, one is the appearance of that.
The Hochma that is revealed in the left line of the animals, in the face of an ox, is revealed together with the judgments and the punishments of the wicked who draw the Hochma from above downward. These judgments are called “embers of fire” and “Seraphim.” They are regarded as serving the left line for without these judgments, the Hochma in the left is not revealed.
These embers of fire are called “their appearance.” It is written about them, “the image of the animals, their look…” since they are the appearance of the animals that we look at in order to see in a mirror, since we look in these judgments to see in a mirror, in Hochma that is called “mirror.” This is so because when we see these judgments, we also see the Hochma in the left, called “mirror.”
Like a mirror in which all the colors are seen, so are the Seraphim, embers of fire, as a mirror in which to see the looks of the animals, since the judgments that are called Seraphim are as a mirror, for the shapes of the animals do not clothe in the form of the left, to reveal Hochma, but through the judgments that are called Seraphim.
Hence, it is considered that the animals, the three lines, clothe in the form of the left, to receive the Hochma that is in the left. The Hochma in the left clothes in embers of fire, since everything dresses in one another, this is the look of that. When we see the embers of fire, we see the Hochma within it, and the three lines of the animals within the Hochma. It follows that the embers of fire are the mirror of the Hochma, and the Hochma is the mirror of the animals, since they are clothed in one another.
403. However, it is written, “And the image of the animals.” Their forms are not written, and there is no need to write that they are lion, ox, eagle, and man, since all their forms are already written in the beginning, and here it writes only about their image, which is their appearance.
404. Who are the embers of fire? They are the Seraphim. Their looks, the Ophanim that the Seraphim clothe in, to show the forms of the animals, the three lines in them, and their looks, the Hochma that is revealed by them in the left line, which is called “a mirror.”
405. The sparkling of the Seraphim and the Ophanim is in those angels that are called Lapidim [torches]. They are the bottom HASHMALIM [pl. of HASHMAL] that come out from the bottom HASHMAL that surrounds the animals, meaning they come out from a coupling of the legs of the animals with the HASHMAL that surrounds them.
The secret of the bottom HASHMAL is as the upper secret, above, in that inner HASHMAL, the HASHMAL who, from his waist and above, appears as it is written, “like amber [the color of HASHMAL], with the appearance of fire all around within it,” from the appearance of his waist and above. This is so because everything is in one way, from below and above, to the point that the bottom HASHMAL is HASHMAL in colors that are invisible except in a mirror, a mirror within a mirror, this mirror inside that one.
406. She walks among the animals. This is Malchut, who was placed between the two sides, the right and the left in the animals, and was engraved there in an engraving and a form. As the Shechina said, “Place me as a seal upon Your heart,” like the decorations of a seal. This is because that precious stone, Malchut, who is called “gemstone,” walks between two sides, right and left, illumination of Hassadim and illumination of Hochma. She has light to shine, and to elevate the light above all the other sparkling stones, above all the other degrees.